King Charles Had One “Absolutely Emphatic” Rule About Princess Diana Following Her Death

Rachel BurchfieldThu, September 17, 2026 at 12:22 PM UTC

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Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1991.Credit: GettyThe Gist -

On September 16, an excerpt from Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer’s forthcoming book, Swan Song, was released.

In it, Spencer claims that King Charles—then Prince Charles—made an explosive comment about Diana soon after her death in 1997.

Buckingham Palace spoke out about the matter, as did a former aide of Charles’s, who said that the king was “absolutely emphatic” that Diana’s memory be respected after her death.

King Charles’s former communications secretary is defending the monarch in the wake of a bombshell claim made by Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer.

On September 16, a serialization of Spencer’s forthcoming book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister was published by The Daily Mail. In it, Spencer wrote that the king—who was then Prince Charles—told him during a phone call that took place shortly after Diana’s death in an August 31, 1997 car crash in Paris, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”

Princess Diana and Prince Charles in October 1991.Credit: Getty

Julian Payne, once a communications secretary to the king, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that he didn’t recognize “the way the king is being characterized in those remarks” (per The Telegraph). Even years after Diana’s death, he said, Charles told staffers that they must never criticize her and that her memory must be respected, a point he was “absolutely emphatic” about, Payne said.

Payne worked as director of communications for both Charles and Queen Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, for five years beginning in 2016. This included the 20-year anniversary of Diana’s death in 2017, and “Naturally, we ended up discussing her several times during that summer because the media interest was so intense,” Payne explained.

Princess Diana on June 17, 1997.Credit: Getty

“What I remember was he was very clear that there was never to be any criticism, never to be any pushback on the narratives that were usually highly critical of him,” he added. “He was absolutely emphatic that we were to respect her memory and not undermine it in any way. When he was telling us there was never to be any criticism or pushback, that wasn’t about him. That was absolutely about the late princess and her memory, so it seems to me very odd that, in the moment itself, with the grief of his family and his own shock, that he would choose that moment to use those words. It’s just not language that I recognize.”

In Swan Song, Spencer claimed that the phone call—which took place before Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997—was heated because Charles wanted his sons Prince William and Prince Harry to walk behind Diana’s coffin, while Spencer was vehemently opposed to the suggestion. (The boys, then 15 and 12, ended up making that walk, which proved traumatic for both.) Charles claimed that he walked in the funeral procession of his great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, in 1979, but after Spencer pointed out that Charles was 30 at the time, Charles “went nuts,” Spencer wrote.

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“Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting,” Spencer continued. “Then he stopped. I assumed the pause signaled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death.”

Prince Philip, Prince William, Charles Spencer, Prince Harry, and Prince Charles walking behind Princess Diana’s coffin.Credit: Getty

After Charles’s aforementioned comment, Spencer wrote he was “so stunned” by the remark that he paused briefly before responding, “I can’t believe you just said that,” before hanging up the phone.

In a rare statement from Buckingham Palace, on Wednesday the palace responded, “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”

A source close to the king said the alleged comment about Diana was “just not in his nature, and it certainly wasn’t in his nature at that time, when he was a man absolutely grief-stricken.” The insider added that, at the time, Charles was “paralyzed with grief” and even defied protocol by insisting that Diana receive a full state-style funeral and that her coffin be draped in the royal standard, even though their divorce had been finalized the year prior and Diana was no longer using her Her Royal Highness styling.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana in Seoul, South Korea in 1992.Credit: Getty

Payne said that the palace intervened on Wednesday because “this is a much more personal situation, given its author, and therefore has a greater ability to do harm.”

The Telegraph reported that neither the palace nor William and Harry were told about the contents of Swan Song before its release, which is to be on September 22.

on InStyle

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